One for the money

I didn't get any further with my basket making last night as I went to the cinema. I went with 3 work colleagues & we went to see One for the Money. The critics slated it, which to me is usually a good sign, as they tend to like intelligent films. One for the Money is light, fluffy & very funny. Two of us had read the book it was based on two of us hadn't, but we all enjoyed it. Janet Evanovich has written 30 plus books, about half of them are about Stephanie Plum, a bounty hunter, Stephanie is not a very good bounty hunter, she has an on/off relationship with a cop called Joe Morelli, a totally nutty family & an on/on relationship with food.

If you want an intellectual, thought provoking film, don't go & see this, but if you want a easy to watch funny film I'd really recommend this one.

Here's what I've made so far

I started my course in 'Basket making with recycled materials' last night. We were using old magazines & cable. I only got as far as you can see above, there was a limited amount of materials & some of the attendees were getting a little precious about their colour scheme. I just wanted to learn the technique so once I'd got the hang of it I was happy to sit back & watch, whilst some minor scuffles broke out over the magazine pages! It was great fun & next week we are learning a different technique though at the moment I cannot remember what, I'll look at my notes & get back to you. I will explain this technique in more detail later if anyone is interested.

RTFM Part 2

I sold a pair of boots on Ebay, clearly stating that they were size 5, EE fitting, slouch style with extra wide calf.

The buyer wants to return them, she has very narrow feet & slim calves & the boots don't fit, they are too wide across the foot & too baggy in the calf.

Well they would be wouldn't they, that's why I put the information in the advert about them being wide fitting!

RTFM

On top of all the problems I'm having with the new machinery/software at work I am also experiencing an increase in people dropping in to get work done immediately, mainly because they are too lazy to learn how to use the new system.
After a morning of 156 emails, 200 plus jobs in my in tray & 57 staff interruptions by midday an email was sent round & a large sign stuck to my door. The sign basically tells people what times of the day they can just walk in & have their documents produced & that the rest of the time they have to email me or leave work elsewhere to be done. On the first day once the sign was up these are some of the conversations I had.

Colleague 'Does that apply to me?'
Me 'No, I just put it there to make my door look pretty!'

Colleague rushes in with handful of paper & a panicked look.
Me 'Can you read the sign on the door?'
Colleague 'No, what does it say?'

Colleague 'I read the sign, but this is urgent'
Me 'You said that the last 3 times you visited today'

Colleague 'I read the sign, but I'm management'
Me 'I don't give a flying fuck if you are the Queen of the sodding May, I'M BUSY'

Waffle waffle

I've made about £30 on eBay, so a little more for the savings account.

It's payday on Thursday which means next month is a 5 week month, so I need to allow for that when I do my envelope budget.

Sorry to whoever asked about tips for selling on eBay I don't sell on there very often, probably the best advice I can give it 'Take clear photo's of whatever you want to sell'.

I've finished the 2nd mobius scarf for my DD, I forgot to take a photo of it.

I did take a photo of the 1st beanbag I made for DD2, but as it was made of brown cord, it just looked like a large dog turd so I haven't posted the pic. I'll try to take a photo of the 2nd one, it's blue, so hopefully it will make for a clearer pic.

I've just darned 20 socks for the Minder, his sock drawer is now full, I have dozens still waiting to be darned, I'm going to do 30 minutes every evening 'til they are all done.

I have a basket full of soap sacks ready to sell, they make the room smell nice too whilst they are sat in the basket.

The Minder worked really hard in the garden over the weekend & yesterday, his shift system means that he doesn't work one Monday in 3 as he works one Saturday in 3.

I'm leaving work with a headache every day as the problems with my machines are still not resolved to my satisfaction.

Ebay

I'm so excited, I have a few small items on Ebay & it looks like there may be a bidding war on one item, woohoo.

Isn't she cute

Another item for my Facebook shop, I shall put pic's of her on there later today.

Candles

I'm not sure it is a good idea for me to blog about how I make my recycled candles as I do it all wrong, so this post is a 'do as I say, not as I do' post.
You are supposed to heat candle wax in a double boiler, I don't, I use a thick bottomed metal pan on a low heat & I throw in all the leftover bits of candle in it. I don't think I'd do this on an electric hob, but I have a gas hob & so when I turn the gas off the heat goes off fast. I put the candles that are still in holders in the oven on a low heat on a baking tray for a few minutes, this makes the bits easier to get out. I added half a broken wax crayon to the pan on the hob & stir everything together gently. You can buy candle making supplies cheaply from eBay, but this time I had a couple of tall white candles that had been snapped so I added them to the pan & then fished out the wick one the candles had melted.
I cut the wick to the required length, used metal knitting needles resting across the top of the containers I wanted to re-use, I wrapped one end of the wick round the needle, placed the needle across the container so the wick reached the bottom of the container. Once the wax was liquid I poured it gently into the containers to the required depth, but pouring very gently all the rubbish remains in the bottom of the pan, I once tried to strain the wax, but as my sieve was plastic it melted from the heat of the wax. I saved some of the wax & waited until the candles had set, they tend to sink in the middle once set & I then reheat the remaining wax & top up the containers, this seems to get rid of the dip in the middle of the candle. I didn't add any scent this time as a couple of the old candle scraps were already scented. If I do want to add scent I use essential oil, I add a few drops to the melted wax, I usually use Lavender or Tea tree as they are both cheap & easily available. For Yule candles I use clove oil.
So this is what I do, but as they say on TV, 'Please don't try this at home'.

Marmalade & Candles

Being of a very lazy nature, I decided to make some marmalade & some recycled candles on the same day, that way I only had to clean the kitchen once. The candles I made by using all the odds & ends of candles I had been saving & I coloured them by adding a chunk of broken wax crayon my DD gave me.

The marmalade is not labled as it is mainly for me, though I did make one jar of shredless for the DGK & called it Orange Jam, they don't like bitty jam

And Breath

I am desperately desperately worried about my ex husband, he & his new wife have a really serious problem & I only wish I could help.
For the last few years they have managed to hide any profit they made from their business, they paid no tax & in fact were so poor, they managed to get their 6 bed, 3 reception house insulated for free (even though I don't qualify to get mine done).
Unfortunately in 2010 they made 70k profit & 2011 they made 90k profit.
They are in absolute despair, not only can they not claim any benefit they may have to pay tax, it is such a shame, I feel for them, I really do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Proper eggs

No sex this time, just a photo of a dozen eggs I was given yesterday, proper eggs, all different colours & sizes, laid a couple of hours before I was given them

I'm thinking of writing...........

An updated version of the Kama Sutra, a version aimed at those of us suffering from general decrepitude.
The Minder has back problems, from many years of being a roofer & carrying tiles up ladders his back muscles are so strong the pull his spine out of alignment, or so he was told by the chiropractor he sees occasionally, he has a series of exercises he does to keep himself mobile & if all else fails he lays flat on his back for a few hours. Of course laying flat on is back in bed gets boring & being in bed he likes company, when I keep him company one thing leads to another (well we are all for a bit of free entertainment). That's when the problem starts, he has to stay flat on his back & I can only bend one knee. Getting into position, any position, takes a lot of effort & a lot of groaning, this leg will only do this, this leg can only go there, you get the picture, obviously all the effort is worthwhile, but bloody hell, we could do with a crane sometimes.

Modesty be damned

It's cold, really bloody cold, especially in our downstairs toilet where there is no heating.
I could go upstairs to the bathroom, it's warmer up there.
But I'm still having problems with my knee after I was pushed over, I can gallop upstairs with no problem, but getting down again can be a bit problematic.
So modesty be damned, I use the downstairs toilet with the door wide open, this way I don't find my self frozen to the toilet seat. There is only the Minder & I here, if he was bothered, & he's not, he could walk around with his eyes shut!

I was making good progress with knitting my dishcloth, I was making one in hot pink in Andalusian stitch.
That is until last night, I went to babysit the grandchildren for an hour whilst DD & SIL went to parents evening.
DGD2 who is 1 year old always sobs her little heart out when left with me, well for about 10 minutes & then she seems to remember who I am, yesterday she was ready for bed, so I took her up to put her in her cot & she was having none of it. I got her up again, wrapped her in her duvet & rocked her 'til she fell asleep.
I returned downstairs to find DGD1, who is 4 with my knitting 'I'm helping you Nana' she said looking half hopeful & half worried, when I managed to stop laughing, I pulled it all back & she was able to help me wind the wool back up!

U F O's

I have too many UFO's, a part finished mobius scarf in red, grey & black for DD, I was looking for the rest of the black chunky yarn to finish the scarf, I found it but decided it was too dark to attempt knitting with black wool, I also found a random ball of something tweedy so I made 3 more soap sacks. I also have 4 balls of brightly coloured dish cloth cotton that were reduced to 50p & some hot pink chunky wool ready to knit a tea cosy. I need to get on with the tea cosy, it has cable, I've never tried cable, I best make a start on it before it's too late & I can't see to follow the pattern. I also need to make 2 granny square blankets for 2 more babies due in the next few months. All this knitting & crochet gives me a good excuse to sit on the sofa under a blanket, problem is, as soon as I get warm I fall asleep.

Oh Bugger

I changed to a different shade of hair dye as my roots are now more silver than black, my hair is now a delicate shade of pink, oh well, I'll just pretend I did it on purpose, lol.

Meat

One of the things I find hardest to economise on is meat, the Minder is a Meat & Two Veg sort of person, as long as one of the veg is potato & the other veg is also meat! He is also a very fussy eater, probably caused by being bought up by someone who, to this day, cannot really cook.

When we met the only veg he would eat were broccoli & frozen peas, he now will eat a lot more as long as it the stuff he's grown himself.

The only sandwiches he will take for lunch are ham, This isn't too bad as I buy a gammon joint from the butchers for £4.99 slice it with my Kenwood slicer & there is enough ham for 1 to 2 weeks plus a meal of ham egg & chips. Depending on what shift he's on he either has a cooked breakfast, 2 rounds of sandwiches & no evening meal, or he has a cooked breakfast, 1 round of sandwiches & an evening meal, or no breakfast, 2 rounds of sandwiches & an evening meal.

Weekends he has a full English breakfast, weekdays he will have egg on toast or a bacon sarnie.

Unfortunately he doesn't like any of the normal meat stretchers like pastry, dumplings etc. I add lentils & oats to mince & also grated carrots/leeks/celery etc, he doesn't like any of these but since he doesn't watch me cook he doesn't know they are there. What he does like is bread, sliced, fancy, HM or shop bought, so I serve bread with almost every meal.

Banana Bread Recipe

I use this recipe 'The Goode Kitchen' by Shirley Goode, Shirley appeared on the BBC in the 1980's her programme was all about saving money in the kitchen etc. She was my lifesaver when I had 4 young children & very little money to feed them on.
I have all of her books & still use them today, Shirley has a blog, http://shirleygoode.blogspot.com/. with lots of great recipes there.

225g SR Flour
1 level tsp Baking Powder
75gm Butter/Marg
75gm Sugar
1 egg
2-3 Bananas mashed (I use over ripe ones)
Cream the butter & sugar together, I then throw the rest of the ingredients in the bowl & beat well, yes I know it's not the way to do it & yes the mixture sometimes curdles, but it still tastes great. Grease & flour a 1lb loaf tin, pour in the mix, cook at Gas 4 180 deg for about 45 mins til firm & golden.

Blog Award

Thank you to Mum http://mumssimplylivingblogat.blogspot.com/who gave me this award

Here are 15 blogs that I read & enjoy

http://witchhazelhens.blogspot.com/

http://unboughtdelicacies.blogspot.com/

http://thequincetree65.blogspot.com/

http://awantnotaneed.blogspot.com/

http://frugaldom.blogspot.com/

http://frugalityuk.blogspot.com/

http://www.sylvanspirit.me.uk/blog/

http://wannabesybil.blogspot.com/

http://railwaycottage.blogspot.com/

http://refashionco-op.blogspot.com/

http://wemaybepoorbutwearehappy.blogspot.com/

http://frugalwifeinfife.blogspot.com/

http://uselessbeautydesigns.blogspot.com/

http://tightwadgazette.blogspot.com/

http://fraiselachrymose.blogspot.com/

These are only a few of the blogs I read, but I have tried & probably failed to pick bloggers who haven't already been listed.

Rules
1. Thank the person who gave you this
award. (done)
2. Include a link to their
blog. (done)
3. Select 15 blogs/bloggers that you've recently
discovered or follow regularly and nominate them for this
award. (done)
4. Finally tell the person who nominated you 7 things
about yourself.

I can't believe that there are 7 thing left about me that everyone who reads my blog doesn't already know, but I'll try.

1) I have a permanent bubble of happiness in my heart because I love the Minder & he loves me. It is what keeps me going when times are tough.

2) The Minder & I lived in the same village in the 1990's, our children were at the same school, I remember his dogs but not him.

3) I love history & I love dressing up, my dream job would be to be one of the characters in a museum such as Beamish.

4) I love cats even though I get thoroughly pissed of with them crapping on my drive.

5) I am terrified of losing my sight & I know it will happen soon.

6) I am very knowledgeable about almost all sexual behaviour & frequently get asked for information at work.

7) I am a evil bad tempered bitch & you cross me at your peril, our IT specialist at work will vouch for this, he ignored my requests for help for 10 days, implying I was stupid, whereas the software was/is at fault, he now has a nickname that he hates & everyone uses & he's had a bollocking from the Head.

It's been a rough few days

But I'm finally back.
I have a whole nother week to get through before half term, but it's the weekend & I'm going to keep busy & try to keep cheerful.
I took the Minder to work this morning at 8:30, from there I went to DD's & dropped off some milk & a bottle of Pepsi that was left over from an event at school.
From DD's I went to have a new tyre put on my car, £65.
From there I went to Tesco's & spent £62, this included some goodies to send to SIL in Afghanistan & 3 chickens for £10. I also got a voucher off petrol, so I put £30 petrol in the car.
From there I went to my local butcher & baker & I bought a tiger loaf, half shoulder of lamb, a piece of beef & some pate.
At 2 o'clock I collected the Minder from work & we went to B&Q, he needed a new fork as he snapped his old one!
We are now home in the warm with a cuppa & some pate on toast, all the chickens are in the oven along with the lamb & the beef is in the slowcooker.
Once the meat is cold, the beef will be sliced & frozen in portions, the chickens will be stripped to the carcase & frozen, the carcase's will be made into stock.
The lamb will be eaten for lunch tomorrow, it there is any left I will make Irish Stew, I'm not convinced there will be any left though as it really is the smallest half shoulder I have ever seen

Work

No electricity, 2 fights, 4 broken windows, what a day!